We hiked Table Mountain via the Skeleton Gorge route which starts in Kirstenbosch Gardens. From Skeleton Gorge, we hiked to Maclears Beacon, which is the tallest point on Table Mountain. We had some lunch and lemon creams (standard snack of Christow road for hiking).
Then we hiked onwards to the Cable Car and then down Platteklip Gorge. Daniel and Skyler joined us. We hiked very quickly, which was fun, and the weather was perfect. In the evening, I studied more for my last final exam the following day.
We went on a sunrise hike up Lions Head this morning! We got up there with plenty of time to spare and enjoyed watching the sun rise. That view is forever going to be special to me. Then we went to Camps Bay and had a delicious breakfast before hanging out on the beach for a bit. We had a fun time making Chandler into a sand merman.
Next, we drove to Hout Bay, got some fish and chips, and relaxed on the beach. I had only driven by Hout Bay once and had dinner there once too (when Carr came to visit), but it was dark then. So overall, it was nice to check it out.
Then we returned the rental car and I studied the rest of the day. Chandler and Katerina braaied ostrich and sweet potatoes since there was load shedding.
Today I slept in. Katerina and I then went on a run in the orchards, and then we all went on a walk together with the twins in a stroller. Chandler had a blast with their two dogs, a bull terrier and a great dane. Jan braaied chicken and some cheese sandwiches for lunch, and Mareli made some yummy veggies. It was sad to say goodbye since it feels like family whenever I see Jan and Mareli, and Mareli really enjoyed getting to see Chandler again for the first time since he was three.
We tried to get sushi by Greenpoint, but we got lost trying to find the place. So instead we went to a South African themed restaurant at the waterfront and we all ordered local dishes.
We drove out for the weekend to visit Jan and Mareli (my old South African au pair) at their farm with their baby twins, Luah and Gabriella, who were adorable. The drive out to Ceres and onward to their farm is gorgeous!
We had a nice lunch of ostrich burgers, and then we went to their neighbor’s place which has a bunch of bolted rock climbing routes. It is becoming a new hotspot destination for climbers. Overall, we had a great afternoon climbing with a bunch of baboons keeping us company. They were climbing up on the rocks we were climbing! The baby baboons were especially cute.
That evening, Jan did a spectacular braai for us with all kinds of South African meat, including lamb liver (which only Jan really enjoyed), bacon wrapped around cherries, standard boerwors, and lamb chops. It was really nice chatting away at the fire altogether.
Today we drove to Gansbaai to go shark cage diving and Daniel joined us. It was super epic! We were very lucky and saw five great white sharks! The cage fit six to seven people, and the boat held about 22 people. When Katerina was in the cage, a shark even tried to bite it! The whole experience was awesome.
We then drove back on a little longer route along the coast. It was very beautiful and we stopped at a lovely beach for a bit and got to see Cape Town as the sun set. That night we went in Claremont to Tiger Tiger and Boogie.
I had the final for my water resource management class, which was the honors level EGS course I was in. It was three hours of writing two essays. We had been given the prompts ahead of time so that we could prepare, as we needed to cite at least eight papers for each essay. We were allowed to bring in a reference sheet to jog our memory, but that was it. I felt alright about it and glad it is over
Afterwards, Chandler, Katerina and I picked up our rental car for the weekend. It took us a bit of a roundabout way to get there, as the company didn’t update their address online, but we eventually got our car. We got a manual car, and it was fun driving stick shift with my left hand! I have never done it before!
We went rock climbing at Lakeside Pinnacles, a place I had been to a few times before so I knew how to get there. There are great views of the mountains and Muizenberg. We climbed until it got too dark to see the rock anymore.
Then we went into town for Ethiopian food. We were seated up in a treehouse loft, which was a super fun setting. Then cruised around First Thursday festivities a bit and got some huge milk shakes. It was fun showing them how alive Long Street becomes at night.
We had wanted to go hiking today, but it was raining, so instead we went to Simon’s Town where the forecast said it was supposed to be partly cloudy. In reality, it was pouring!
We walked from the train station to Simon’s Town and then to Boulder Beach to see the African penguins and got absolutely soaked. Seeing the penguins was great, but we were so wet we did not feel like staying and getting fish and chips in Kalks Bay as planned. All we wanted was to get back to shower!
For dinner, we got roti from Sunrise Chip n’ Ranch - I just had to have Chandler and Kat experience roti.
